It was the beginning of a five-day event hosted by the group Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America.

The nonprofit agency works with major lenders to renegotiate payments and principal amounts for homeowners on the verge of losing their houses to foreclosure.

“We have every major lender in the country on-site with us that basically say if we can prove their mortgage is unaffordable, we can go as low as a 2 percent interest rate and in some cases reduce the outstanding principal balance,” said NACA spokesman Darren Duarte.

“They are sitting across from that decision maker and that makes all the difference in the world.”-- NACA spokesman Darren Duarte

Tony Campos was one of the first homeowners in line hoping to get some help after his income fell short of his payments.

“We fell behind on our payments and to other major expenses with our cars and family. When we tried to work with our bank they just didn’t want to,” Campos said.

Homeowners are asked to bring all of their financial documents which are reviewed by NACA staff.

If they can prove that a homeowner’s mortgage is not affordable, they will refer them to a one-on-one interview with a representative of the lender where a decision can be made on the spot.

“They are sitting across from that decision maker and that makes all the difference in the world,” Duarte said.

Campos was looking forward to talking to someone in-person, after getting nowhere on the phone, “That’s a good thing because usually just somebody over the phone is just a person who wouldn’t know what to do,” Campos said.

If NACA can’t help, they are also an authorized partner of the Keep Your Home California program.

The agency was established to doll out $2 billion in federal relief funds to Californians struggling to hang onto their homes.

The agency has been criticized by homeowner advocacy groups for not getting the money out soon enough.

After three years, the program has only paid out about a sixth of the funds.

If not spent by 2017, the money will be forfeited back to the U.S. Treasury.

NACA organizers said they will help streamline the process to get clients into the Keep Your Home California program by filtering and guiding clients seeking help.

“We see a lot of California residents and we can sift through them and interview them to see who is eligible for it and submit that so they can get the financial assistance they need,” said Duarte.

The NACA event will be open to the public 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday at the Sacramento Convention Center at 1400 J. St.

For more information on the event and what to bring for your meeting, log onto the non-profit’s website at www.naca.com.